ComedySportz Chicago hosts world championship

ComedySportz, the popular entertainment franchise that stages improv games within a competitive framework, is holding its world championship in Chicago, beginning Wednesday. According to the company, more than 170 comedians attached to franchises from the Quad-Cities to Manchester, England, are in the improv capital to play a series of games (or shows) at the Athenaeum Theatre on Chicago's North Side.

An opening-night parade is slated for Wedneday evening, featuring players walking en masse, Olympics-style, through the Lakeview neighborhood. The various match-ups, which take place through Saturday at the Athenaeum, 2936 N. Southport Ave., are open to the public. (Tickets at 25yearz.com.)

ComedySportz franchises battle it out every summer; the last time the world championship was held in Chicago was 2001.